Products
Dell XPS 13 (2024)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024)
Tested using Methodology v0.9
Updated Oct 08, 2025 04:35 PM
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Tested using Methodology v0.8.3
Updated Oct 31, 2025 08:11 PM
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Size
13.4"
Operating System
Windows 11
Size
13.6"
Operating System
macOS
Our Verdict
Dell XPS 13 (2024)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024)
The Dell XPS 13 (2024) and the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024) are both premium ultraportable laptops. On the surface, these two laptops closely resemble one another; both feature all-aluminum chassis, 16:10 aspect ratio displays, haptic feedback touchpads, and sparse port selection. However, the MacBook comes with a nicer display as a base option, better-sounding speakers, and better battery life. By contrast, the XPS 13 offers greater customizability, as you can get up to a 2.8k OLED touchscreen display and more and faster RAM; the storage is user-replaceable, too.
Variants
- XPS 13 (XPS9340-7319BLK-PUS) (Graphite - FHD/Non-Touch/Ultra 7/16GB/512GB)
- XPS 13 (XPS9340) (Platinum - OLED/Touch/Ultra 7/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MXCV3LL/A) (Midnight - M3/8-core CPU/10-core GPU/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MRXW3LL/A) (Midnight - M3/8-core CPU/10-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MRXV3LL/A) (Midnight - M3/8-core CPU/8-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MXCT3LL/A) (Silver - M3/8-core CPU/10-core GPU/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MRXR3LL/A) (Silver - M3/8-core CPU/10-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MRXQ3LL/A) (Silver - M3/8-core CPU/8-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MXCR3LL/A) (Space Gray - M3/8-core CPU/10-core GPU/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MRXP3LL/A) (Space Gray - M3/8-core CPU/10-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MRXN3LL/A) (Space Gray - M3/8-core CPU/8-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MXCU3LL/A) (Starlight - M3/8-core CPU/10-core GPU/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MRXU3LL/A) (Starlight - M3/8-core CPU/10-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MRXT3LL/A) (Starlight - M3/8-core CPU/8-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
8.7
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
9.5
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.1
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
140°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
9.0
9.1
Dimensions Photo
Size
13.4"
13.6"
Thickness
0.6" (1.6 cm)
0.5" (1.3 cm)
Width
11.7" (29.7 cm)
12.0" (30.4 cm)
Depth
7.9" (20.0 cm)
8.5" (21.5 cm)
Volume
58.0 in³ (950.4 cm³)
51.9 in³ (849.7 cm³)
Weight
2.6 lbs (1.2 kg)
2.7 lbs (1.2 kg)
Charger Size
5.2 in³ (84.8 cm³)
5.5 in³ (89.4 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.7 lbs (0.3 kg)
0.3 lbs (0.2 kg)
Serviceability
5.8
3.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
7.5
6.0
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
1
0
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
No
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
2880 x 1800
2560 x 1664
Aspect Ratio
16:10
16:10
Pixel Density
253 PPI
224 PPI
Panel Type
OLED
IPS
Touch Screen
Yes
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
94%
86%
Refresh Rate
5.9
5.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
No
Contrast
10
7.6
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
49,870 : 1
1,518 : 1
Brightness
7.7
8.4
Maximum Brightness
368 cd/m²
453 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
19 cd/m²
2 cd/m²
Reflections
9.3
9.2
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Glossy
Glossy
Total Reflections
1.34%
1.35%
Indirect Reflections
0.71%
0.4%
Calculated Direct Reflections
0.63%
0.95%
Black Uniformity
10
9.4
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.143%
0.556%
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
6.6
9.3
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
2.53
2.18
Avg. Gamma
2.21
2.25
Avg. Color dE
4.86
1.38
Avg. Color Temperature
6,290.5 K
6,821.3 K
Color Gamut
9.7
9.4
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
153.89%
99.98%
sRGB uv
147.78%
99.98%
Adobe RGB xy
94.48%
87.68%
Adobe RGB uv
98.27%
92.89%
Gamut HDR
DCI-P3 xy
99.98%
99.31%
DCI-P3 uv
99.98%
99.25%
Rec. 2020 xy
81.34%
72.02%
Rec. 2020 uv
85.53%
73.74%
Flicker
4.5
9.0
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
No
No
Flicker Frequency
120 Hz
> 1000Hz
Flicker Active Below
100%
100%
Interface
Keyboard
7.7
8.0
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
7.5
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
64 gf
64 gf
Actuation Force
36 gf
39 gf
Pre-Travel
0.69 mm
0.76 mm
Total Travel
1.13 mm
0.86 mm
Touchpad
7.0
9.2
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
6.5
9.5
Size
14.0 in² (90.0 cm²)
15.8 in² (102.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
7.1
8.1
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
83 dB SPL
75 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
7.1 dB
3.7 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
1.2
0.1
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
349 Hz
236 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
18 kHz
20 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
1.4 dB
1.3 dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.7
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
9.0
9.0
Resolution
1080p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
Yes
No
Connectivity
Ports
3.0
5.0
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
0
0
USB-C Ports
2
2
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt 3
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
No
No
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
None
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
No
No
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
No
Apple MagSafe 3
Security Lock
No
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.4
5.3
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Core Ultra 7 155H
M3
Core Count
16
8
Thread Count
22
8
GPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Arc Graphics
M3
Dedicated/Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
VRAM Size
N/A
N/A
GPU Total Graphics Power (TGP)
N/A
N/A
RAM
Capacity
32 GB
8 GB
Modules
8 (Soldered)
Unknown
Type
LP-DDR5x
LP-DDR5
Speed
7,467 MHz
6,400 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
1,000 GB
256 GB
Usable Capacity
935 GB
214 GB
Drive 1
KIOXIA KXG80ZNV1T02 NVMe 1024GB
Apple SSD AP0256Z
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
9.3
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
2,347 points
CPU Multi-Thread
10,793 points
GPU Compute
29,965 points
CPU/RAM Performance
7.0
Cinebench 2024 - Single Core
96 points
Cinebench 2024 - Multi Core
460 points
Geekbench 6 - Single Core
2,290
Geekbench 6 - Multi Core
11,129
Blender - CPU (Avg)
50 samples/min
PassMark PT - CPU Mark
21,841
PassMark PT - Memory Mark
2,768
PassMark PT - Memory Mark (Android)
N/A
Mozilla Kraken
389 ms
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
9.7
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,897 points
Multi-Thread
9,006 points
Low Tier Graphics
7.5
Geekbench 6 - GPU Compute
35,711
Basemark Web 3.0
1,587
PassMark PT - 2D Mark
734
PassMark PT - 2D Mark (Android)
N/A
PassMark PT - 3D Mark
5,094
PassMark PT - 3D Mark (Android)
N/A
Novabench 5 - GPU
216.0
mprep - Stress My GPU
27,387
Blender (3D Rendering)
8.6
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
3.9 min
GPU Render Time
2.2 min
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
High Tier Graphics
4.5
3DMark - Steel Nomad (DX12)
698
3DMark - Steel Nomad (Vulkan/Metal)
635
Basemark GPU (DX12)
24,279
Basemark GPU (Vulkan/Metal)
24,538
GFXBench - High Level Test (Vulkan/Metal)
1,843 Frames
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
6.8
Basemark Image
Overall Score
36,620
Professional 3D (GPU Accelerated)
0.6
Blender - GPU (Avg)
153 samples/min
Cinebench 2024 - GPU
N/A
CPU-Intensive Game Performance
4.7
Civilization VII - AI
21.0 s/turn
Civilization VII - Graphics (Avg)
51.4 fps
Civilization VII - Graphics (1% Low)
16.5 fps
Total War: Warhammer III (Avg)
13.8 fps
Baldur's Gate 3 (Avg)
21.3 fps
Baldur's Gate 3 (1% Low)
9.8 fps
Previous Methodology Score
5.5
Previous Methodology Score Converted
4.9
GPU-Intensive Game Performance
1.7
Cyberpunk 2077 (Avg)
12.9 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Min)
7.9 fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (Avg)
6 fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (1% Low)
2 fps
GTA V (Avg)
14.3 fps
GTA V (1% Low)
6.1 fps
Black Myth: Wukong (Avg)
6 fps
Black Myth: Wukong (5% Low)
5 fps
Resident Evil 4 (Avg)
13.9 fps
Resident Evil 4 (1% Low)
4.0 fps
Previous Methodology Score
3.5
Previous Methodology Score Converted
1.4
Borderlands 3
3.2
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
20 fps
1% Low
7 fps
0.1% Low
3 fps
1% Low Delta
88 ms
0.1% Low Delta
265 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
37 fps
Ray Tracing Performance
0.4
Cyberpunk 2077 (Avg)
3.3 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Min)
2.4 fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (Avg)
4 fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (1% Low)
1 fps
Black Myth: Wukong (Avg)
0 fps
Black Myth: Wukong (5% Low)
0 fps
Civilization VI
4.4
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
30 fps
1% Low
17 fps
0.1% Low
14 fps
1% Low Delta
27 ms
0.1% Low Delta
37 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
92 fps
Avg. Turn Time
11.76 s
Storage Drive Performance
9.2
9.2
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
821.5 MB/s
2,816.8 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
4,423.8 MB/s
2,702.2 MB/s
Random Write Speed
80.8 MB/s
40.0 MB/s
Random Read Speed
45.6 MB/s
64.2 MB/s
Battery
7.5
8.8
Capacity
55 Wh
53 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
9.2 hrs
11.6 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
7.3 hrs
11.6 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
2.5 hrs
3.3 hrs
Charge Time
2.7 hrs
3.0 hrs
Counter-Strike 2
0.0
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
N/A
1% Low
N/A
0.1% Low
N/A
1% Low Delta
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
N/A
Thermals And Noise
8.2
8.1
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
32 °C (89 °F)
28 °C (83 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
41 °C (105 °F)
49 °C (119 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
N/A
Fan Noise Under Load
40.0 dBA
N/A
Power & Fan Control App
Yes
No
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
4.3
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
31 fps
1% Low
11 fps
0.1% Low
5 fps
1% Low Delta
62 ms
0.1% Low Delta
150 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
41 fps
Performance Over Time
3.6
5.7
Performance Over Time Graph
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
81 °C
83 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
31% loss
12% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
68 °C
83 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
16% loss
16% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 11
macOS
Additional Software
Yes
None
Extra Features
Biometrics
Face Recognition and Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen Support
No Stylus Support
No Stylus Support
Secondary Display
No
No
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Dell XPS 13 (2024)
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